Running toward Cleveland’s future, learning its history step-by-step

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Phil Kidd isn’t running away from anything; he’s running toward a greater knowledge of Cleveland.

“I take the readers on a journey through Cleveland, neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street, looking at what are the notable landmarks there, what is the history on the street, what is perhaps a notable business,” Kidd said of his blog EveryStreetCleveland.com.

Kidd moved to Cleveland from Youngstown to work for Northwest Neighborhoods CDC, serving the Edgewater, Cudell, and Detroit Shoreway neighborhoods on Cleveland’s west side. He started to run the city to learn more for himself. Now, he’s running to educate others.

“I really think there’s a lot of hidden gems within each street,” Kidd said. “I think what’s cool is that you can really see kind of how the city developed, you can just kind of see like rings of a tree the evolution of a neighborhood and then by extension a city.”

He’s run about 350 miles -- eight neighborhoods on Cleveland’s near west side --, but he estimates there are about 3500 miles of streets in Cleveland.

“When you’re in these neighborhoods, the little back alleys and all the public art on the backs of garages that no one will ever see except or maybe the people on that street,” Kidd said.

The blog has attracted national media attention, and he has subscribers all over the country. But, the small things are the reason he does it.

“It has just been unbelievable how much I’ve learned.”

Learning more with every step forward.

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